Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
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| Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic | |
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| Developer(s) | BioWare |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Designer(s) | David Falkner Steven Gilmour Casey Hudson Derek Watts Drew Karpyshyn James Ohlen Preston Watamaniuk |
| Engine | Odyssey engine |
| Release date(s) | Xbox PC |
| Genre(s) | RPG |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: Teen (T) OFLC: G8+ USK: 12+ PEGI: 12+ |
| Platform(s) | Xbox, Windows, Mac OS X |
| Media | CD (4), DVD (Mac & Xbox) |
| System requirements | See System requirements |
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by LucasArts. KotOR was released for Microsoft's Xbox on July 15, 2003, for PCs running Microsoft Windows on November 19, 2003, and later for Mac OS X. KotOR is the first computer role-playing game (RPG) set in the Star Wars universe. The alignment system tracks actions--from simple word choice to major plot decisions--and then determines one's either light or dark alignment.
The game's system is based on Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, which is based on the d20 System role-playing game system derived from the Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules. Combat is round-based. Time is divided into discrete rounds, and combatants attack/react simultaneously. However, the number of actions a combatant may perform each round is limited. While each round's duration is a fixed short interval of real time, the player can configure the combat system to pause at specific events or at the end of each round.
A sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords was developed by a different studio, Obsidian Entertainment, using an updated version of the engine from the first game. Bioware was occupied with producing Jade Empire and wanted to focus more on their original productions than licensed games, but they recommended Obsidian for KotOR's sequel. It was released for Xbox in December 2004 and PC in February 2005.
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[edit] Plot
[edit] Setting
The game is played over several planets in the Star Wars universe: Dantooine, Kashyyyk, Korriban, Manaan, Rakata Prime (referred to as "Unknown World"), Taris, and Tatooine. Players also visit other locations: the Ebon Hawk, the Endar Spire, Saul Karath's Leviathan, the Star Forge, and a Yavin space station (PC version only; downloadable Xbox content through Xbox Live).
[edit] Characters
Along the way the player meets a number of characters, including: Bastila Shan, Carth Onasi, Canderous Ordo, HK-47, Jolee Bindo, Juhani, Mission Vao, T3-M4, Zaalbar, and Trask Ulgo (a temporary party member). Other characters met along the way include: Ajunta Pall, Bendak Starkiller, Calo Nord, Darth Bandon, Darth Malak, Darth Revan, Davik Kang, Uthar Wynn, and Yuthura Ban.
[edit] Story
Knights of the Old Republic is set in the Star Wars universe about 4000 years before Episode I takes place, during the time of the Old Republic. The story begins as Sith fighters ambush a Republic ship, the Endar Spire, orbiting around the planet Taris. The player character, and Carth Onasi escape the ship before destruction, and land on Taris. Their first priority is to find Bastila Shan, a young Jedi who accompanied them on the Endar Spire and who knows the rare Force Power of Battle Meditation. One year earlier, Bastila used Battle Meditation to lead an assault against Darth Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith; as she was battling Revan, Revan's apprentice Darth Malak attacked Revan's ship and usurped the title of Dark Lord. Now Malak seeks Bastila because he fears her power; he will either take Bastilla's abilities or kill her.
After the escape pod crash lands in the upper city of Taris, the two shipmates begin the search for Bastila. The rescue of Bastila allows them to leave Taris on the Ebon Hawk with the help of T3-M4, Mission Vao, Zaalbar and Canderous Ordo moments before Darth Malak destroys the planet. The companions travel to Dantooine where the player learns the ways of the Force. The Jedi Council gives the player and his/her companions a mission to find certain star maps which will locate a mysterious ancient weapon called the Star Forge that allows the infinite production of warships. The player then has to travel to the four other planets to find the location of the Star Forge. In the middle of their mission, a confrontation between Malak and the player reveals that the player is actually the former Sith Lord, Revan, who had lost his/her memory after Malak's initial betrayal. Also during this incident, Bastila is captured and eventually turned to the Dark Side.
After all the clues are found, the player travels to the unknown world of Rakata Prime where he/she crash lands. The player goes through difficulties with the natives but finally is able to reach the temple where Bastila is waiting. After a confrontation, the player either chooses to not go with Bastila and help his/her companions reach the star forge and defeat the Sith threat (Light Side Path) or the player chooses to go with Bastila and usurp the throne of Sith Lord from Malak (Dark Side Path). The Light Path has been confirmed as canon, and the following games of the series, though allowing you to choose the outcome of the first game, build on the fact that after saving the galaxy, or conquering it, Revan left for the Outer Rim, which is only revealed in the sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords.
In the ending scene of Light Side Path, the Admiral that controls the Republic Fleet during the battle with the Star Forge award the playable character with the Cross of Glory on Coruscant. A crowd of people and soldiers applaud you. In the ending scene of Dark Side Path, Bastilla announces the playable character as the Sith Lord and he or she stands in a rised stage facing the audience which are a crowd of droids and soldiers. After this, there is a short clip of ships produced by the Star Forge slowly advancing towards Space.
[edit] Voice actors
The following voice actors were used in the game:
- Rino Romano - Revan
- Jennifer Hale - Bastila Shan
- Raphael Sbarge - Carth Onasi
- Rafael Ferrer - Darth Malak
- John Cygan - Canderous Ordo
- Kristoffer Tabori - HK-47, additional voices
- Kevin Michael Richardson - Jolee Bindo
- Courtenay Taylor - Juhani
- Cat Taber - Mission Vao
- Ed Asner - "Master Vrook Lamar"
- Ethan Phillips - " "Frightened Manaan Mercenary"
- Cam Clarke - "Sith Diplomat," "Kono Nolan," "Gate Guard Trewin," "Junior Czerka Scientist," "Sith Student," additional voices
- Phil LaMarr - "Gadon Thek"
- Robin Atkin Downes - "Mekel," "Griff," "Vulkar Mechanic"
- Tom Kane - "Master Vandar Tokare," "Rodian"
- Frank Welker - "Sunry," "Jorak Uln," "Gar," "Swoop Fan," additional voices
[edit] System requirements
For input, Knights of the Old Republic requires a Keyboard & Mouse for PC & Mac, and a Gamepad for the Xbox. The PC Version's requirements are Pentium III, Windows 98, 256 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM Drive, 100% DirectX 9.0b compatible hardware, and OpenGL 1.4 compatible graphics card. On the other hand, the Mac Version's requirements are Mac OS X 10.3.4 or later, PowerPC G4 1 GHz or faster, 256MB RAM, 4.2 GB free disk space, 3D Graphics Card (ATI Radeon 8500/nVidia GeForce 2 or better), 32MB of VRAM, and a DVD drive. Lastly, the Xbox version requires a Microsoft Xbox console and compatible display.
[edit] Critical acclaim
The general critical response was enthusiastic. KotOR has won numerous awards, including Game Developers Choice Awards' best game of the year, BAFTA Games Awards' best Xbox game, Interactive Achievement Awards for best console RPG and best computer RPG, and has been named an Xbox Platinum Hit.
- GameSpy
- Xbox Game of the Year 2003
- Overall Game of the Year 2003, across all platforms
- 2004 Game Developers Choice Awards
- Game of the Year
- Original Game Character (HK-47)
- Excellence in Writing
- IGN
- Best Sound (Xbox category)
- Best Story (PC category)
- Xbox RPG Game of the Year 2003
- PC RPG Game of the Year 2003
- Xbox Game of the Year 2003
- PC Game of the Year 2003
- Overall Game of the Year 2003, across all platforms
- Gamespot
- Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property
- Xbox Game of the Year 2003
- RPG Game of the Year 2003, across all platforms
- Computer Gaming World - Game of the year
- PC Gamer - Game of the year
- Interactive Achievement Awards - Best story/character development
- Official Xbox Magazine Game Of The Year 2003
- In March 2004, GMR Magazine rated Knights of the Old Republic, the best Star Wars game of all time.
G4's show X-Play named the original KotOR their Game of the Year in 2003. X-play also called it the second best game on the Xbox in their best Xbox games list.
The game is part of The Xbox Platinum Series/Classics, for sales in excess of 1 million units.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- BioWare's official Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic site
- Official LucasArts' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic site
- "Game Of The Year 2003" Awards
- Holowan Laboratories
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Knights of the Old Republic | List of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic characters | Knights of the Old Republic II | |
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Computer games developed by BioWare
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Shattered Steel • Baldur's Gate • Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast • MDK2 • Baldur's Gate II • Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal • Neverwinter Nights • Neverwinter Nights: Shadows of Undrentide • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic • Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark • Jade Empire • Dragon Age • Mass Effect |
